Self-closing and slow-closing valve



March 3, 1953 H. c. KRoNE ET AL SELF-CLOSING AND SLOW-CLOSING VALVEFiled April 14, 1949 www Patented Mar. 3, 1953 SELF-CLOSING ANDSLOW-CLOSING VALVE Howard C. Krone, Ridgewood, and William Meyer,

East Grange, N. J., assignors to Wheaton Brass` Works, Newark, N. J., acorporation of New `lersey Application Aprl14, 1949, Serial No. 87,416In Great Britain October 14, 1948` 1 Claim.V l

This invention relates to improvements in selfclosing valves; and theinvention has reference, more particularly, to a novel construction oi'self-closing valve provi-ded with means for checking or slowing down theclosing movement of the valve whereby to prevent sudden excess backpressure and resultant fluid-hammer in the fluid delivery line throughwhich fluid is served to and for discharge throughthe valve.

The invention has for an object to provide, in combination. with aself-closing valve, novel means Vfor checking or retarding the closingmovement of the valve, such checking means being adapted to so operatethat it offers little orw no impedance to valve closing movement undernegative or low back pres-sure conditions which prevail during initialstages of such movement, but; which functions to exercise checking orretarding effect upon valve closing movement under high or excessiveback pressure conditions Which prevail during the final stage of valveclosing movement; all whereby, under substantially normal or low backpressure condition-s, rapid valve closing movement is permitted,especially during the initial phases of. such movement, but undermounting. or excessive back pressure conditions. occurring as the valveapproaches its seat, being operative to increase resistance to closingmovement, so as to eiect gradual closing of the valve Without shock orproduction of duid-hammer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a manipulatable meanscomprising a main valve and an auxiliary valve, the latter beingrstresponsive to valve opening manipulation, whereby to reduceresistance-oi' fluid pressure against opening movement of the mainvalve.

Other objects of this invention, not vat this time more particularlyenumerated, will be understood from the following detailed descriptionof the same..

An illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig` 1 is -a verticalA longitudinal sectional view oi'. a` self-closingvalve according to this' invention shown in closed condition; Fig. 2 isa similar view showing the valve in open condition; ig.` 3 is a similarView, with parts broken away, but showing the valve means as conditionedduring the iinal stage of its closing movement to cause resistance toback pressure and effect closing movement without shock orl productionof fluid-hammer; and Fig. 4L is` a detail horizon- 2 t tal sectionalview through the` valve means per se, said view being taken on line 4-4in Fig. 1.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above-describedviews, to indicate correspondng ports. y

Referring to the drawings, the reference character l0 indicates the mainbody of the valve casing which is preferably of cylindrical forrmExtending from. a side of said main body l is an intake portion Il. andextending from the lower end of said mainbody is an outlet portion l2.VThe main body lo is provided, within its interior below the intakeportion ll, with, a transverse partition I3. Said partition is providedwith a valve port opening M which is aligned with the longitudinal axisof said main body, and formed in the partition around said valve portopening I4 is a valve seat l5'.

At its upper end, said main body lll closed by a top head or cap I6which is secured thereto by cap screws Il, or in any' other suitablemanner. The joint lbetween said main body l0 and top head or cap f6 isrendered leak-proof by an interposed sealing gasket i8.

Formed in the upper end of said main body lll is a cylindrical. bore I9which defines a cyl` inder chamber 2lb Slidably supported bythe cylinderchamber 20, so as to reciprocate in said main body IU, is an upwardlyopen, hollow plunger 2i which is provided with a bottom Wall 22 inopposition to the valve.. port opening It. Suitably afxed to theexterior face of said plunger bottom wall 22 is a cap plate 23 which isprovided with dependentguide fingers' 24 adapted to slidably traversethe bounding margins of said valve port opening ld. Afli'xed betweensaid bottom wall 22 and the cap plate 23 is a valve disc 25. The valvedisc 25 is made of suitable material adapted to sealingly engage withthe valve seat l5fo'r closing the valve port opening r4. Extendingaxially downward from the cap plate 23' is a guide member 26 having alongitudinal bore 21 for purposes hereinafter set forth. Formed in thecap plate 23 is an upwardly open outlet chamber 2li from which extends.a. plurality of discharge passages 29 adapted` to communicate with theinte-rior of the outlet portion l2 of the main body I'l. The valve dis-c25 is provided with a central opening 3B aligned with the outlet chamber28 so as to communicate therewith, The upper margin 3lof said valve discopening 30 provides a seat Which cooperates with a cylinder chamberrelief Valve 32, Sodreliefvalve 32 is provided with an upwardlyprojecting hollow extension 33 of reduced diameter, so as to form at thejuncture thereof with said discharge valve 32 an annular seatingshoulder 34. Alxed to the top head or cap I6, to depend therefrom, so asto be slidably engaged by said hollow extension 33 of the dischargevalve 32, is a guide rod 35. Said relief valve 32 and, through it, theplunger 2| and valve disc 25 carried thereby, are yieldably thrust toclosed positions by a compression spring 35, the l-ower end of which isengaged on said seating shoulder 34 and the upper end of which is footedfor thrust by engagement around a seating boss 31 which depends from theinner or under side of the top head or cap I6. The upper end of theplunger 2| which slida'bly engages the bore I9 of the cylinder chamber20 provides a piston portion 38. Said piston portion 38 is provided witha suitable piston ring member 39 for sealing engagement with the borewall of said cylinder chamber 20.

The main body I of the valve casing is annularly enlarged intermediatethe cylinder chamber 2| and valve port equipped partition I3, thusproviding a fluid passage chamber 45 extending around the lower part ofthe plunger 2|.

The novel checking or retarding means by which the closing movement ofthe valve is automatically controlled comprises a constantly openby-pass orifice 4I of small cross-sectional area which is located in thelower portion of the wall of the plunger 2|, at one side of the latter,

, thus providing communication between the fluid passage Vchamber 4 andthe interior of the plunger 2|. Also provided in connection with theplunger 2|, preferably at the side thereof opposite to that wherein islocated said constantly open by-pass orifice 4I is a relatively largevalve closed by-pass means adapted, at proper times,to affordcommunications between said fluid passage chamber 43 and the interior ofsaid plunger 2 I. Said latter by-pass means comprises a by-pass valvehousing 42 which is preferably formed integral with the plunger 2|within the lower end portion thereof. Said housing 42 is provided withan outwardly open valve chamber 43 terminating at its inner end in aninternal chamber 44 of reduced diameter, thus providing, at the junctureof said valve chamber 43 and internal chamber 44, an annular valve seat45. Opening out of the side of said internal chamber 44 into theinterior of the plunger 2| is a port 46. Within said valve chamber 43 isa by-pass valve 41, the stem 48 of which extends rearwardly through theinternal chamber 44, andV slidably through a guide opening 49 in therear wall of said housing 42. Mounted around said stem 48, between therear wall of said housing 42 and the by-pass valve 41, is a compressionspring 50 which, under proper conditions, moves said by-pass valve toopen position. The open position of the by-pass valve is limited by across-pin I, which extends through the projecting end portion of thevalve stem 48, so as to abut the rear wall -of said housing 42. Saidby-pass valve 41 is opened by the action of the spring 5U, when lowfluid pressure obtains within the fluid passage chamber 4Q, but closesagainst the tension of said spring 55 when high pressure obtains withinsaid iluid passage chamber 40.

Means is provided for opening the main valve by manual operation. Thismeans comprises a spindle 52 journaled to extend transversely throughthe valve casing, with its external end portion extending through astuing-box (not shown) Said external end portion of the spindle isengaged by a handle or wrench 53, by means of which it may be turned.Fixed on said spindle, so as to turn therewith, is a lift cam 54. Saidlift cam cooperates with an enlarged head 55 of a push-piece 56. Saidpush-piece extends slidingly through the bore 21 of the guide member 25,and into the lower end or the relief valve 32.

When the lift cam 54 is rotated in a proper direction, it exerts anupward thrust upon the push-piece 55, whereby the same is moved upwarduntil its head 55 abuts the end of the guide member 26 of the cap plate23, This initial independent movement of the push-piece 56 first liftsthe relief valve 32, so that the by-pass valve 41 is momentarily closedunder pressure of fluid in chamber 49 due to reduction of pressure incylinder chamber 2|! by out-now of iluid therefrom. Continued upwardmovement of the pushpiece 56 thereafter moves the plunger 2| up- Wardlyso as to raise the valve disc 25 from the seat I5, and thus opens theport I4 to the flow of fluid from the intake portion I| through thevalve casing for discharge from the outlet portion I2. Since the reliefvalve 32 is thus open during the raising of the main valve, the fluidwithin said cylinder chamber 25 and the hollow plunger 2| escapesreadily and quickly through the outlet chamber 28 and outlet passages23, to the outlet portion I2 of the valve casing, and consequentlyresistance to opening movement of the main valve is reduced to aminimum, and therefore the latter may be quiesly and easily raised toits fluid discharging open position.

When the main valve is opened by manual Iactuation of the lift cam 54,the spring 36 is compressed, and the valve remains open to ilow of iluidtherethrough so long as the lift cam is held in lifting position. Whenthe lift cam is released, the compressed spring 35 immediately reacts tofirst move the relief valve 32 to closed position, and thereafter tomove the main valve toward its seat so as to close the port I4.

In the operation of the main valve checking or retarding means, afterthe plunger 2| is raised to open the main valve, the outflow of fluidthrough the port I4 suiilciently reduces the pressure of fluid in thefluid passage chamber 40 that the closing effect of fluid pressure onthe by-pass valve 41 is overcome by the tension of the spring 55, andconsequently said by-pass valve 41 is moved oil its seat 45, thusopening the port 45 for admission of fluid into the interior of theplunger 2|. When the plunger is permitted to descend so as to move themain valve toward its closed position, said by-pass valve 41, beingopen, permits a maximum flow of fluid into the plunger interior, andconsequently permits an initial relatively fast downward movement of theplunger 2| in main valve closing sequently the downward movement of theplunger 2| is checked and its movement toward main valve closingposition retarded so that the main valve disc 25 can move but graduallytoward its seat I5 and thus into closed relation to the port I4. Byreason of the above described main valve checking and retarding actionduring closing movement thereof, said main valve will close so graduallythat production of sudden and excess back pressure is avoided, andfluid-hammer effects in the uid supply line, with which the valve isconnected, is prevented. After the main valve is seated in closedposition. the by-pass valve 41 remains closed until in-flow of uidthrough orifice 4| balances the iiuid pressure in the cylinder chamber20 with that in chamber 40, so that the spring 50 becomes effective toopen said by-pass valve.

It will be obvious from the above description that this inventionprovides, in combination with a spring closed main valve, a valvechecking and retarding means of exceedingly simple construction, and yetone which is very effective for automatically controlling the valveclosing movement, so as to prevent sudden and excess back pressure andfluid-hammer effects.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declarethat what we claim is:

In a self-closing valve having inlet and outlet chambers with a valveport therebetween, the inlet chamber including a cylinder chamber with ahollow plunger movable therein and spring biased toward the valve port,said plunger carrying a main valve to close the valve port; thecombination with said plunger of a by-pass valve housing integral withits side wall, said housing having a valve chamber outwardly open towardthe inlet chamber with a by-pass port providing communication betweenthe valve chamber vand the interior of said plunger, a check-valvewithin the valve chamber and exposed to fluid in the inlet chamber so asto close the by-pass port when subjected to mounting fluid pressurewithin said inlet chamber, spring means to open said check-valve underconditions of diminishing fluid pressure Within said inlet chamber, andsaid plunger having a permanently open by-pass orice of relatively smallarea in another part of its side wall providing communication betweenthe inlet chamber and the interior of the plunger.

HOWARD C. KRONE. W'ILLIAM MIEIYER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 955,961 Grabler Apr. 26, 19101,841,456 Shand Jan. 19, 1932 1,878,001 Sloan Sept. 20, 1932 2,319,069Krone May 11, 1943

